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How to Make WordPress Empty The Trash

// May 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // WordPress Tips & Tricks

A simple and very useful hack by way of WP Recipes that makes WordPress empty the trash:

Simply open your wp-config.php file (located at the root of your WordPress install) and paste the following code:

define('EMPTY_TRASH_DAYS', 10 );

 

The second parameter is when to empty trash, in days.

If you’re like me, you’re constantly forgetting to permanently delete posts, comments, and pages that fill up your trash folder. If you don’t empty an overloaded WordPress trash bin your blog may experience slower loading times as a result. This fix will not only take care of a piece of routine blog maintenance you’re likely to forget, it should also help your site run faster.

Starting A WordPress Blog: Your First Plugins

// May 18th, 2010 // 3 Comments » // Plugins, WordPress Basics

When starting a WordPress blog you’re bound to come across a lot of plugins you’ll be tempted to install right away. There are thousands of free plugins available for WordPress that add an incredible amount of functionality to your website. But sometimes people get ahead of themselves and try to install all these “must have” plugins they’ve been told every blog needs before they even write one post. Suddenly, instead of blogging, they’re playing around with settings and functions they have no use for.

That’s why I suggest keeping the amount of plugins to minimum when starting a WordPress blog. Every time your website is loaded, your server has to load all those plugins and having too many can slow your site down. It’s also easier to add plugins as your need for them arises; this way you can learn to manage each plugin as it’s installed instead of learning multiple plugins at the same time. This is not to say you shouldn’t have any plugins, otherwise you wouldn’t be making use of WordPress’s capabilities. Here are a few plugins that I feel are worth having once you start your WordPress blog (even if you haven’t written one post):

• Askimet – Included with WordPress, this is as good a spam blocker as you’re likely to find. As soon as you start your WordPress blog you can sign up for a free account with WordPress.com and they’ll supply you with your API key to get Askimet up and running.

• All In One SEO Pack- Once you start your WordPress blog you’ll probably be concerned with SEO. This easy-to-use search engine optimization plugin allows you to insert keywords into your homepage and every post. Once installed, access its options under the ‘Settings’ tab and enter all the applicable keywords for your site in the ‘Home Keywords’ field. Whenever you write a new post, enter that post’s keywords in the SEO fields at the very bottom of the ‘Edit Post’ page.

• Google Analytics For WordPress – Google Analytics is a free, powerful way to track and analyze your website traffic. This plugin makes it easy to install the necessary tracking code in your site without your having to edit your site’s HTML files. Accessible from the ‘Settings’ tab, you simply enter your Analytics ID in the appropriate field.

• Google XML Sitemaps – When you start your WordPress blog you’ll want to get it indexed by Google and other search engines as quickly as possible. This will automatically generate an XML sitemap for your site which helps search engines like Google and Yahoo index and search your content. It also notifies search engines whenever you update your site. In addition, you can submit this sitemap to Google Webmaster Tools which helps you manage your site’s search engine results. It can be configured from the ‘Settings’ tab, though you’re probably best leaving it at its default settings.

What other plugins do you find necessary when starting a WordPress blog?

The Best Permalinks Structure for Your Blog

// May 17th, 2010 // No Comments » // WordPress Basics

There are multiple opinions on the best permalinks structure for your WordPress blog. Some argue that you should use a custom permalinks structure with only the post name while WordPress advises only using a permalinks structure that begins with a date or post ID number. Both methods seem to have certain advantages and disadvantages but which one wins the “best permalinks structure” debate?

What are Permalinks?

Permalinks are the permanent URLs to your blog posts. They are the titles used by readers to link to your blog’s content and also read by search engines. Setting your permalinks structure defines how your blog posts URL will look to both readers and search engines. The default setting in WordPress simply lists your posts by number – it looks something like this: http://example.com/?p=N – and is unattractive to readers and doesn’t provide search engines with any useful keywords.

Changing Your Permalinks Structure

Creating a custom permalinks structure is one of the first things you should do when you start your WordPress blog. Not only does it make your blog look more professional, it’s also a necessity if you want to grab any significant search engine traffic. You need to make sure you choose the best permalinks structure for your blog because it shouldn’t change once it has been set.

The Different Kinds of Permalinks Structures

Opinions vary on the best permalinks structure but ultimately it is up to you and what your blog requires. Many people argue that a custom structure is best, either consisting of only the post name (/%postname%/) or your post category followed by the postname (/%category%/%postname%). They suggest that this is the best permalinks structure for SEO as it loads your URL with search engine-friendly keywords.

Other bloggers and WordPress advise against this permalinks structure as it can cause your blog to load slower than normal. Without the identifying date or ID number before the post name, your blog may have to create more rules within its database to identify each post. They suggest using a structure that uses the date or post ID number (%post_id%) before the post name as this will help WordPress’ performance.

What’s the Best Permalinks Structure for Your Blog?

There seems to be no hard and fast rule as to which permalinks structure you should use for your WordPress blog. It all depends on the type of blog you want to have.

If you plan on running a blog loaded with posts, with a lot of similar titles, you should use a structure that prefaces the post name with a date or ID number to differentiate your content.

If you want to have a blog that is focused on specific keywords and topics, you should use a custom structure that only includes the post name or post name and category to attract attention from search engines.

What kind of permalinks structure do you find works best for your WordPress blog?